Restoration Of Lake Jackson Makes It A Good Spot For Bass

OUTDOORS

February 16, 1996|By Don Wilson of The Sentinel Staff

When it comes to catching bass - big bass - nothing is a secret.

Everyone knows that Lake Kissimmee is tops, particularly if you want to catch 20 to 40 bass a day and have a good shot at one weighing 8 pounds or more. Then there is the Stick Marsh, the man-made impoundment a relatively short crow-flight from Kissimmee that for more than five years has been No. 1 on the hawg hunter's hit list.

Between these overfished bodies of water, however, is a little-known lake that can rival either on one of its good days. Lake Jackson is the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission's newest attempt at providing exceptional bass-fishing opportunities.

It appears to be working.

During the past year, a handful of anglers fishing the secluded lake have had average catches that were five times better than the statewide average.

On its better days, Jackson equaled Kissimmee's 40-bass trips.

While it has not produced the 10-pound-plus monsters that the Stick Marsh is known for, Jackson has come close. And catching 7- and 8-pound quality bass almost is routine.

The 1,000-acre lake seems on the verge of fulfilling its creators' expectations.

Just a few years ago, Lake Jackson was a mess . . . a shallow, weed-choked lake slipping into the nearly comatose state of becoming a swamp. Drainage projects on nearby ranches had sucked away most of its water.

Then the state bought most of the surrounding lands, and game and fish commission biologists pushed through a massive lake restoration project.

For the past few years, since Lake Jackson was refilled, they have been carefully monitoring the health of its fish populations.

The bass are protected by strict catch-and-release regulations.

Until recently, they also were inadvertently protected by a special GFC licensing rule. Lake Jackson is in the Three Lakes Wildlife Management Area, and the commission decreed that anyone fishing there must buy a $26 management area stamp. That rule kept fishing pressure almost nonexistent until it was rescinded last year.

Since then, more people have been fishing Jackson but not nearly as many as you would expect - given the success rates.

In December 1994, state biologists documented catch rates of 4.3 bass per hour, with 84 percent of the fish ranging from 14 to 23 inches long. The statewide catch rate for bass is .25 fish per hour.

During 1995, the 12-month average success rate was 1.26 bass per hour, or five times the statewide rate, said Jim Sweatman, a GFC biologist monitoring the lake. And during peak fishing periods, the rate hit five fish per hour.

This year, Lake Jackson has been sustaining the high catch rates.

Sweatman said he fished Jackson a few weeks ago, when water temperatures rose to nearly 70 degrees, and caught 18 bass in three hours of fishing.

If bass anglers are overlooking Jackson, the black crappie specialists are not.

Sweatman said one angler told of taking 500 crappie from Lake Jackson last winter.

''In general, there are more crappie boats than bass boats on the lake most of the time,'' Sweatman said.

Last summer, explosive hydrilla growth threatened to overtake the lake restoration project. However, Sweatman said cold temperatures and high water levels have halted the advance and even cut back some of the plant growth.

The entire lake is accessible by boat, and Sweatman said the game commission plans to kill most of the hydrilla with herbicides in a few weeks.

Lake Jackson is in the Prairie Lakes Unit of the Three Lakes tract, about 25 miles south of St. Cloud on Canoe Creek Road (State Road 523).